Local herbal companies making plant chemicals
KATHMANDU, JAN 20 -
Domestic manufacturers of herbal medicines have started making phytochemicals, the raw materials used to produce allopathic drugs . In a first for the country, local companies have begun producing raw materials for synthetic drugs out of locally available herbs.
Phytochemicals are the main medicinal components that are found naturally in herbs and are extracted to make allopathic drugs .
Natural Flower and Herbs, a Hetauda-based herbal medicines manufacturer, has started producing raw materials while Phyto Pharma Nepal based in Bhaktapur said it was also working to produce phytochemicals.
Pharmaceutical companies are planning to conduct a study on the possibility of using domestic raw materials to produce allopathic medicines, according to Deepak Prasad Dahal, general secretary of the Association of Pharmaceutical Producers of Nepal (Appon).
“About half a dozen companies are planning to use domestic raw materials,” said Dahal. He declined to name the companies. Nepali pharmaceutical companies are fully dependent on imported raw materials to produce medicines here.
Natural Flower and Herbs, which has been producing phytochemicals, said they had been producing and exporting the extract product named 10-Deacetylbaccatin III for the last one year.
According to the company, the chemical that is extracted from the Himalayan Yew, popularly called Lauth Sallo, is used to manufacture allopathic drugs to cure cancer.
The company’s managing director Yagya Neupane said they had exported 150-200 kg of 10-Deacetylbaccatin III to Dubai, Taiwan, India and some European countries last year. “Since domestic companies have not been buying our products, we have been exporting them,” he added.
According to Neupane, they have planned to manufacture other phytochemicals in the future.
“We are planning to extract Hyoscine butylbromide, a chemical that can be used to manufacture a strong painkiller.” He added that the chemical can be prepared from divocia leaves.
Likewise, Phyto Pharma Nepal, another herbal medicine manufacturer, said it had been working to produce raw materials for synthetic drugs that can be used to cure diseases like cough and piles, among others.
“We have initiated a feasibility study on collecting the required herbs from their potential areas,” said Deepak Prasad Dahal, the company’s chairman.
However, allopathic companies are yet to make the effort to produce raw materials in the country. Currently, there are 45 pharmaceutical companies registered with the Department of Drug Administration (DDA) to produce allopathic medicines. Only a few companies have been producing Ayurvedic medicines using locally available herbs.
According to the Nepal Herbs and Herbal Producers’ Association, Nepal exports an estimated 6,000 tonnes of herbal products annually to India, China, Singapore, Germany, France, Italy and Czech Republic.
Most of the products are exported in their raw state instead of in finished or semi-finished form. As per the Trade and Export Promotion Centre, the country exported herbal products worth Rs 1.27 billion in 2012-13.
According to Appon, around 30 percent of the allopathic medicines produced globally are made from medicinal herbs. Appon’s President Umesh Lal Shrestha said they would focus on promoting exports of phytochemicals in coordination with the Department of Plant Resources.
(Source: The Kathmandu Post)
